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UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oFFioE.

THOS. C. BALL, OF K-EENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO A. S. DAVIS AND H. C.

' HENDERSON, OF SAME PLACE.

LATCH FOR DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 19,614-, dated March 16, 1858.

To all 'whom t may conce/m.'

Be it known that I, THoMAs C. BALL, of Keene, in the county of Cheshire and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new7 and Improved Handle and Latch for Moving, Latching, and Fastening Sliding Doors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in a certainarrangement of the handle and latch by which sliding doors may be closed and latch'ed or unlatched and opened by a single effort of the hand exerted lupon the handle and by which with the aid of a padlock the latch may be iirmly held in place and the door securely fastened.

To enable others skilled .in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The latch shown at A, in Figures 1, and 2 of the accompanying drawings, is made to turn upon the small bearing or pivot a suftlciently to be latched and unlatched, the inclined plane of the latch A, sliding over the inclined plane c, forming the catch shown at Fig. 3, the latch being thrown in place and held there by the rubber tube spring B, Fig. 1,one end of said spring being kept in place by the spur d, upon the latch A, the other end of the spring being inserted in the chamber e, in Fig. 2. The latchvA, is provided with a curved lateral projection or horn C, Figs. l, and 2, upon which the lever E, Fig. 2, of the handle D, is made to act when the handle is moved in the proper direction for opening the door, and made so as to admit the staple of a padlock at the lock seat f, in Figs. l, and 2, by which the latch is held in place and the door securely fastened.

'Ihe handle sho-wn at D, Fig. 2, of the drawings referred to turns upon the pivots a, and g, when moved in the direction for opening the door but prevented from being turned beyond a perpendicular in the other direction by the square heel h, 7L, at either end of the handle. 'Ihe handle D, is provided with a projecting lever E, which is made a part of the handle and to move in unison with it. Said lever rests upon the projection or horn C, of thelatch A, Figs. l and 2 so that when the handle D is actuated in the proper direction for opening the door, the lever E, acting upon the horn or projection C, depresses that end of the latch, thereby liberating the other end and allowing the door to slide freely, all being done with one exertion of the hand.

The plate or frame F, is furnished with a l box or chamber G, in which the latch isv hung which box or chamber is made to correspond with the box or chamber shown at H, in Fig. 3, to which the catch 0,' is attached the two boxes or chambers meeting and securely inclosing'the latch and catch when the door is closed, the projecting part or horn of the latch being only exposed to be acted upon by the lever E, and to admit the introduction of a padlock at Aj, Fig. 2. The small circular chamber e, upon the box G, is for the purpose of receiving one end of the rubber spring as before stated.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-u The combination of the latch A, the handle D, the lever E, the spring B, and lockseat f, or their equivalents, for the purposes sta-ted and fully described.

THOMAS C. BALL. W'itnesses EDWARD FARRAR, LEONARD BIsco. 

